The Hunt
by Miss Cow
Summary: One-Shot. A flood occurs in Riverclan territory, and an apprentice struggles for survival. Warning: Rated T for death. Hurt without the comfort, and crime because they knew it would happen. Please, read and review!


**I wrote this a while ago, and after a few slight modifications, I decided it was fit to join my collection of fanfictions and one-shots here. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Honestly? I have to say it?  
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Mud dampened my paw as it landed yet another soggy puddle. The rain soaked my normally fluffy, silver fur, streaking it slick and black. Closing my eyes, I pushed forward. I _had_ to keep going.

As a new apprentice, my first single mission was to catch my starving clan something to eat. It was leaffall and leaf-bare was closing in on us, and we already hardly even had enough food for a single sunrise. How were we going to survive leaf-bare if we couldn't even survive leaffall? We were Riverclan for Starclans' sake! We were built for water! How could we lose to a river-free clan like Windclan? They were sick from eating too much, not too little!

I was now shivering from the flooding rain, which was now up past my paws. With all the strength I could muster, I slowly pushed my way through another foot of flood. If only it went a bit higher . . . then maybe I could swim through it. Baring my snow white fangs, I shifted another waterlogged paw forward. Breathing deeply, I tried one more step, but my stone-cold body just wouldn't let me. Now that I was stuck and freezing in the middle of the forest, the icy flood water had finally decided to rise, forcing me to hold my breath as ice crystals formed over my worried eyes. I was freezing to death!

Using all my willpower, my stiff muscles slowly started to obey me. After breaking free from the soft moss-covered ground, I pointed my two small front paws towards the surface-water and started using the strokes that my mentor had taught me.

I pushed off the ground, still holding my breath, and held my two front paws forwards while my back ones kept straight. As I glided up, I tried not to let any icy water sneak into my lungs, because I knew that if that happened, I'd sink back down to the bottom and it'd be all over. No more hunting expeditions for me.

My momentum eventually slowed to a stop, and I started sinking back down. Thinking quick, I started paddling forward with all four of my little, tiny paws. I could feel my lungs start to implode, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before I joined our warrior ancestors in Starclan.

A beautiful red fish swam by, almost making me forget about the lack of air, and instead forced me to think more about my lack of food. _Who cares if I die? As long as I have a nice, juicy fish, I will be satisfied. Once I've had one last deliciously giant fish, my life will be complete. I refuse to die without eating that fish!_

I couldn't take it anymore. I gasped for breath, inhaling large amounts of floodwater. That was it. My life was over, and I hadn't even gotten to taste that large, juicy fish in my mouth. The look of panic in my eyes morphed into a gentle, dreamy state, and I shut them tight. My body then sunk to the bottom, leaving my hopes, dreams, and goals alone in a lifeless body.

I sat up in my moss bed coughing violently, trying to get the water out of my lungs, but nothing came out. I looked at my surroundings and saw that I was in the usual apprentice den, and not in the medicine cat den. My fur was perfectly dry. All of this sent a chill down my spine. Even though I knew it had only been a dream, I still wanted to scream. I had been having the same nightmare for weeks, and now it was going to come true, I knew it. Not only was it almost leaf-bare, but the day before Oceanstar had assigned me to go on my first single hunt to do in the morning. Maybe I could talk Hornpaw into doing my chores. He was always eager to prove himself, maybe he would do this for me. After all, I deserved a break. I had already started battle training, and it was only my fifth day as an apprentice. Usually the average apprentices didn't start battle training until they were at least seven moons old.

Hornpaw was missing, and a few sunrises later, Minnowtail had found him dead. "Drowned to death in the flood," the black tom had said. The guilt was torture, as my dream had come true. After all, I had wondered why my paws were golden in the dream instead of my usual murky gray.

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**It was short, but I'm glad I posted it as it is. Just review and say what you think!**


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